This Holiday Season, Go Green

Thanksgiving has come and gone. What does that mean? Time to start stressing about holiday gift giving! Every year, I tell myself the same thing: get an earlier jump on shopping and spend less money.

Well, this year, I’ve finally found the perfect way to accomplish these lofty goals while also doing something good for our planet: I’ve pledged to give GREEN gifts (you can sign the pledge here, too!).

The Nature Conservancy is running a special campaign called Green Gift Monday, which happens tomorrow, November 28. Instead of wasting hours surfing the web on Cyber Monday, they’re asking folks to join the green movement and give responsible, meaningful gifts. Love it.

Style Me Thrifty has a few green gift ideas to share. See below. The best part? Giving the gift of green can save you, ahem, green! Yey thriftiness!

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Shop Etsy
Where else can you find wine charms made from beer bottles? Or how about sustainably harvested cheese boards? Etsy currently boasts 11 million handmade items from across the world, which means there is something for everyone on your list. Etsy even has a search engine that helps you find items from local sellers. Handmade + local = homerun.

Try a DIY Project
I sincerely believe you’re never too old for a little crafting. Any excuse to get out the hot glue gun! Invest in one and then start perusing the web for DIY ideas. I love this list of 101 green handmade DIY projects and fashion buffs need to follow the blog PS I Made This for chic DIY ideas. Pinterest is another great spot for DIY inspiration.

Give an Experience
Remember when you used to give your parents handmade coupon books redeemable for “one free room cleaning” or “free hugs”? Channel your inner seven-year-old and give your loved ones an experience — like a meal to their fav sustainable seafood restaurant or day of kayaking on the Potomac River. You won’t waste paper wrapping the gift and the experience is more meaningful than anything from a big box store.

Hop over to the Green Gift Monday site for more green ideas >>

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You might also like:
Easy DIY Holiday Gift Idea
Fashionable Stocking Stuffers

DIY Wedding Signs

For me, thriftiness isn’t something that is only limited to my fashion decisions. I try really hard to find affordable alternatives whenever I can in life: instead of breaking the bank on a fancy meal, I sit at the bar and order appetizers. Instead on splurging on over-priced furniture, I head straight to Ikea (god bless those Swedes!).

And sometimes my work-arounds come in the form of do-it-yourself projects. It’s amazing how a little elbow grease and determination can save you money. So I’ve decided to start sharing some of my best DIY tricks on Style Me Thrifty. First up: do-it-yourself wedding signs!

My sister got married in April and her wedding gave me an excuse to start following wedding blogs (how convenient!). One lovely detail I kept seeing in photos were these rustic, directional signs that guided guests to the ceremony, reception, etc. Since my sis was getting married on a farm, wedding signs like these were practically a must, but why would I buy pre-made signs when I could make them myself? So that’s exactly what I did! Here’s how.

Supplies for DIY Wedding Signs:

• 4 pieces of wood, approximately 3 feet long, 6 inches tall, found at Home Depot or a craft store. It doesn’t matter if the pieces aren’t a perfect match or have rough edges. They’re supposed to be “rustic” looking. Bonus tip: if your boyfriend owns a saw, put him to work.
• Paint – I used two 2oz. bottles of acrylic paint from Michael’s and that was more than enough
• Stencils (they make an amateur artist’s life easier) and a stencil brush
• Tape to hold stencils in place
• Ruler
• Nails for mounting the signs to trees OR 4 stakes (about 4 feet tall) to hammer the signs into the ground

Steps to Make the Signs:

• Cut out each letter from the stencil sheet. Using a ruler, find the midpoint of the wood. Now line up your letters so that they’re nice and centered (and spelled correctly!).
• Tape each stencil to the wood to prevent it from moving. Using a stippling motion, paint in the stencil, making sure you’re putting down enough paint to make the color really vivid.
• Carefully peel off the stencil and continue until you’ve spelled your word. Viola! That’s it!